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Chapter Thirty-Four
Joel
The new year comes and goes with a bang. Thankfully, so does Gina’s father and his caretaker. They left for Tennessee the day after we were married.
It’s nice to have a breather, after everything that has happened. Life can change on a dime, and getting two bodies out of a motel room takes more effort than you’d think. Fortunately, I didn’t have to do the full cleanup. I just had to take care of the disposal, making sure Ray and Layla had proper burials. It would have been a real timesaver to have buried them together, but I wanted to do right by Layla. I just couldn’t bring myself to force her to spend eternity with her killer.
The guys at the top were fairly understanding. Understanding enough to send a stand-in. Yvette is supposed to fill Layla’s shoes, though I don’t know. Just one encounter with her and I get the impression she’s a real diva. Some guy they call Big Mike is my new point person. We’ve only spoken by phone, but he’s no Ray. This I can tell. I guess I should be glad about that. Time will tell.
No matter who I work with in the future, lesson learned. I won’t give them an inch. I’ll never allow them to define the rules.
Okay, that’s two lessons, but there’s no point in dwelling on the past. I’m turning a new leaf, moving forward.
January pretty much passes in a blur. I wake up; I go to work; I come home; I show Gina how to help around the farm. We have dinner, usually by candlelight. We make love. Then I wake up and do the same thing again the next day. It’s the happiest time of my life.
I expect that she’ll need to head back to Tennessee to be with her father, but she says he’s doing better. She’s taking it day by day. I’m sure the money I’m sending helps. It’s covering the cost of Mona taking care of him.
Good thing I have the extra income. January is a busy month for digging graves. The cold kills a lot of people. Winter has always been a culling of sorts.
One morning late in the month, I wake up and tend to the animals before I leave for work. When I get to the barn, the sun is shining brightly, and I can hear birdsong. It's a beautiful day outside, and I'm glad to be out of the house.
Before I leave for Townsend, I stop to talk to Gina, who is still in bed. We go through the tasks for the day, and she tells me her plans. We talk about the things we'll do that evening, and how we'll spend the night. Somehow, but with little coercion, I end up back in the bed, and the next thing I know, I'm waking up again.
It's like déjà vu, except this is real life.
When I open my eyes, the first thing that hits me is how bright it is. Outside, the sun is high in the sky.
Gina is lying on her back beside me, and her hair is splayed out on the pillow around her head. I lie there and watch her sleep for a moment, thinking about how I'm going to get out of bed without waking her. She looks like an angel, and her mouth looks very desirable. She's got that thing where she pouts when she sleeps. “I love you,” I say, and then I kiss her.
She yawns and stretches as she wakes up, kissing me back. “I love you too,” she says. I figured I’d be sick of her by this point, or vice versa. It’s what’s happened every other time I’ve tried a relationship on for size, but this time it’s different. I can’t get enough of her.
“What time is it?” she asks, rolling over.
“It's nearly ten o'clock.”
“Wow,” she says, rubbing her eyes. “Don't you have to go to work?”
“Yes, and I'm very late. Thanks to you.”
“You can't blame me for everything.”
“Only the good stuff, I’m told.” Everywhere I go, people are constantly giving me marital advice. The whole town seems to be frenzied, eager to lay it on thick. Which is probably why I’ve been keeping Gina to myself. I know the day will come—and soon, I can feel the wolves at the door— when I’ll have to expose her to life here, but now is not yet that time.
“How about breakfast?” Gina asks. “Before you go.”
I smile because she doesn't really know how to cook, though she tries. God, does she try. “Sure, but it’ll need to be quick. Like toast quick…”
It’s hard to mess up toast, but Gina often gets distracted. She looks at me like she can see what I’m thinking. “Why don't you take the day off?”
“What for?” It's a logical question, but she just looks at me like I'm a few cards short of a full deck. With that expression on her face, even I begin to have questions about my intellect.
“For your honeymoon,” she says, doing a little shimmy. Gina doesn't like to wear a lot of clothes. Not even in January. I'm not one to complain.
“My honeymoon?”
She smiles at me and says, “Yeah, I thought you might like to take me somewhere.”
“I have work,” I tell her. “My job is not the kind you can just blow off.”
